


Grief Via Osmosis

by lunaseemoony



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/F, Femslash, Femslash February, Fluff and Smut, Hurt/Comfort, Night Terrors, Nightmares, Post-Time War, Smut, Time War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-13
Updated: 2018-02-13
Packaged: 2019-03-17 16:00:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13662387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunaseemoony/pseuds/lunaseemoony
Summary: A fun night in quickly turns sour when the Doctor accidentally telepathically shares her nightmares with Rose.





	Grief Via Osmosis

**Author's Note:**

> For waltzing-with-my-inner-geek who prompted fem!Nine x Rose hurt/comfort, and femslash February

The Doctor’s face emerged from between Rose’s thighs, smug grin widening her moist lips as she sidled up next to her in a spoon, peppering her shoulder with kisses. The blonde puddle of sated nerve endings and limbs shivered and laughed a heaping sigh. 

 

“God your lips are cold, that’s really gonna take some gettin’ used to.” 

 

“Oi, I certainly didn’t hear any complaints about that a moment ago.” 

 

“First time for everythin’,” Rose teased, craning her head to plant a kiss on the Doctor’s lips. “Oh my  _ god _ ... and you taste like…” 

 

“Human?” Her chest puffed up as she preened. “I consider it a badge of honor.” She play-gasped. “Is that a  _ blush _ I spy on the mighty Rose Tyler’s face?” 

 

“Shut up.”

 

The Doctor’s fingers tickled their way from Rose’s navel to her hip while kissing her neck, teeth grazing an excited pulse point as she giggled. “I can think of one way you  _ could  _ shut me up.” 

 

She drank in Rose’s laughter. She was a blush wine that evening, light and bubbly, sweet as can be. And her face was just as peachy, the Doctor mused as she nuzzled a cool bead of sweat rolling down her clammy cheek as it would a wine glass. 

 

“Keep it up, Time Lady.”

 

“Well if I was a bloke, with you around I certainly could keep it up.” It wasn’t an untrue statement, if Rose only knew. 

 

The post-coital joviality that’d rushed in calmly receded over the following hour. Or was it two? It could’ve been forever for all the Doctor cared. With Rose’s wildly beating heart nestled in her arms she was in no rush to go anywhere. So they didn’t. The time for reprimanding herself for getting so profoundly drunk on Rose Tyler’s wiles would come after they woke. The Doctor stopped running from sleep while Rose was tucked into her bed. At the time she hadn’t seen any harm in revelling in her human’s sweet golden locks clinging to her cheek and her pulse’s symphony slowing from samba to sonata as they drifted off to sleep, fingers and hearts entwined. 

 

The Doctor awoke in a pool of sweat to an earth-shattering scream. A cold air whipped her face before she saw her companion escaping the bedroom. Calls of, “Rose!” fell on deaf ears - her legs were too busy carrying her towards the console room as though the fate of the universe lay solely on her bare shoulders. Oh Rose. 

 

When the Doctor caught up, Rose was already at the controls, darting about the console and punching unresponsive buttons. Even if Rose could understand the TARDIS she was in no place to accept its warmth and resolute unresponsiveness to her urgent shouting to take off for a planet that no longer existed. In so many years the Doctor hadn’t seen anyone - not even herself - so desperately (and nakedly) begging for her ship to function. Anything.

 

“WHY WON’T YOU MOVE?” 

 

The Doctor inhaled strength and rolled on her feet before taking a tentative step forward. “Rose.”

 

“Doctor she won’t go! We’ve got to… they’re screaming… they’re all… the children… we’ve got to help them!” 

 

The Doctor took another step forward and attempted to cut through the frenzy with another gentle, “Rose.” 

 

Part of Rose’s clever human mind had long since accepted the truth already and was beginning to yield, yet her tempest persisted a bit longer with increasingly deflated swears, shouts, punches, and begs. All it then took an agonizing moment later was one, “They’re gone, Rose,” for her to crumple in the Doctor’s arms. They stumbled back to the jump seat, and the Doctor quickly wrapped them both in a blanket she’d nicked along the way. Rose curled up into a naked ball in her lap, sobbing every tear as though it might change the outcome the Doctor herself was still coming to terms with. 

 

“I could feel it. The fire. The terror… their awful cryin’, it’s…” Rose’s voice cracked and she buried her face back in the Doctor’s chest, speaking into her breast. “They’re still ringin’ in my ears.” The Doctor been holding on just fine until Rose peered up a few minutes later, amber eyes swimming in sympathy for her. “I can’t explain it but it’s like… I could  _ feel  _ it. Your pain.” 

 

Rose would be the one human who wouldn’t ask how or why it’d happened. And that was among the reasons the Doctor calmly explained. “You had a night terror. My people can share our dreams when we sleep skin to skin.” 

 

“How often d’you have those?” 

 

The Doctor’s voice was low and brusque. “Every time since.” 

 

Rose snuggled in tighter, scrambling for a hand to hold, just like always. The Doctor knew it every instance she made a pained face as that’d become the conditioned response Rose got her relying on so heavily. 

 

“I don’t sleep,” the Doctor added. “I’m so sorry, you were never meant to see that.” 

 

“I was though, wasn’t I? Wasn’t that why you took me to Platform One? You needed someone else to understand. You carry on every day with that smile… all the while relivin’ all that pain n’ horror all by yourself.” She grimaced. “How many times have I got to tell you, there’s nothin’ wrong with needin’ people.” Rose maneuvered their joined hands through the blanket burrito to bring the Doctor’s to her warm lips. 

 

She returned the kiss to Rose’s crown. “You’re becoming quite good at teaching that lesson to me.” 

 

“Not good enough, apparently.”  

 

“Rose Tyler, if you weren’t such a fantastic teacher we wouldn’t have been in my bedroom in the first place.” 

 

Rose sniffled a few times and laughed. Suddenly everything was right again. “And don’t you for one minute think I’m gonna let you forget that.” 

 

“Let’s get you back to bed,” the Doctor declared, awkwardly fumbling with the mess of human, blanket, and jump seat before managing to heft Rose into her arms. 

 

They were halfway down the hall when Rose hummed and asked, “Does that dream thing work both ways?” 

 

“Never had an occasion to test that out, wouldn’t you believe.” Rose’s deliciously salacious smile had her really hoping it  _ did  _ go both ways. 


End file.
